What’s your opinion?

Why has fatherhood fallen into such low esteem? It’s almost fashionable to see fathers as buffoons. Take The Simpsons or Malcolm in the Middle or any other sitcom. Is this a passing fad, or something deeper? Did our rejection of God the Father in the twentieth century change people’s impressions of fathers? And when we belittle our human fathers, do we end up belittling God?

5 Comments

The more we respect our earthly father, the more we recognize the majesty of our heavenly Father. And as we submit to the authority of one, we learn to believe in the authority of the other. The decline of faith and fatherhood went hand-in-hand. To restore one will help restore the other.

oooooooooo…interesting point, however being a person who enjoys satire, I would say that at least a portion of that stuff is self-effacing humor on the part of the creators or the series. While I get where you are coming from…it is so funny, because we can see ourselves in it. I come by this rightly…because there is more than a little buffoun in me:D

I think the buffoon persona is used as comic relief, much as the pratfalls and eye pokes of the 3 stooges.
“If you think you’ve got problems as a dad, look at what this guy has to deal with.”
It’s important to draw a line of distinction between reality and entertainment, and granted that line is becoming more and more blurry.
As for Hal on Malcom in the middle, I think he is a great guy. The sacrifices he makes for the boys, and how he can be silly with them, as well as discipline them honors his character more than the poking of fun at him belittles him.

I have the greatest respect for my earthly father humanly possible. I believe he has done everything possible to instill in me the Love of God and Family that are important to use to guide my family. No stupidity on any TV show can take that away.

Just my humble opinion on the matter. Great thought provoking questions!